Thursday, September 15, 2011

So this is living.

Things are SO good right now. Of course, we have our little problems (like living as TWO people on ONE person's somewhat meager salary), but we make it work.

My job is bringing me so much joy. Granted, it is entirely emotionally exhausting and potentially leading me toward alcoholism (joke) because every time I come home, I just want to sit down with a beer and think of absolutely nothing. But seriously, it is worth it all. I get to be with people, and work together with people to make other people's lives better. It's the perfect job in that aspect. Of course, it's been a real challenge learning how to work with mentally ill individuals. It's a completely mixed bag. Some of them are really doing great and you'd never know they have a mental "illness" (just like they probably don't know that I suffer from slight depression and I go to counseling and take meds for it). Every day is different. Like today, I sat in the office a LOT of the day (which is rare) because I had so many notes to put into people's charts. Then I ended the day by working on a Service Plan with a member, which is basically just an overview of their goals and objectives, and how Park Center can assist them in meeting those goals. That might be my favorite part of the job so far.... I love talking to people about their goals and dreams, and helping them find ways to reach those goals. SO wonderful. But it also puts a whole lot of responsibility onto me to actually follow through in helping them.

Basically, I love my job. And I'm LOVING being able to cook dinner every night. I'm really trying to branch out and try new foods and recipes. Last night I had a dear friend over who also works in the Mental Health field, and I cooked us a tasty dinner of goat cheese asparagus pasta & some fried squash. YUM. Despite my feminism (or maybe because of it?), I'm obnoxiously domestic.

Today I made bread!!! I've been wanting to try for so long, but I finally did it. It was so easy. I used this instructional video, and my bread came out perfectly:

I used whole wheat flour instead of white, and cooked it for a bit shorter time. I also made a yummy honey-butter to go along with the bread.

What could make life better than a perfect husband, tasty bread, a great job, and the world's cutest cats? Hmmm, nothing.